Transformation
by MandaMaru
Summary: Kaito has a dark past that is coming back to haunt him and the other vocaloids-can Gakupo help save him from himself?  Rated M for language, safety, and eventual Kaito/Gakupo pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Vocaloid or any of the characters-I just love being able to use them in stories. **

**I love Kaito and Gakupo, so I'm hoping their relationship develops along with the story (I can't give you spoilers yet...although M is for eventual lemon).**

**Please review! I update faster when I feel that someone is reading this. Although I'll update for my own personal gratification anyway.**_  
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_The sky seemed to be made of fire as it glowed a dull red. Billows and tatters of smoke swept through empty streets along with debris, while ash floated gently down like dirty snow. At first glance, nothing seemed to be moving that was actually alive. On closer inspection, the smoke hid a figure standing still in the middle of what used to be a busy street. He looked like a normal man-if a bit lean and perhaps a little too young to be alone in this place. His hair was a deep ash-streaked blue, and his eyes were a flat black. He stood in that empty place and sang-words that vibrated through the ruined city and made his intent tangible. There was nothing left alive to hear it, although his voice was beautiful._

_His song brought destruction, because it was what he intended-only for the master he served. The force of his magic sent ripples of power through the streets, causing buildings to crack and tumble into ruins. This city had fought him bitterly; one of his arms had been crippled by a lucky blow, and his body weakened as blood flowed. He ignored the weakness, didn't care if he died-he was a weapon and belonged body and soul to his only master. His voice was created for use as a tool, his body only a means to carry and channel the power he had been born with. Neither of those was his own to control. Although the city was dead, he would still destroy everything in it as long as his master gave the word. He couldn't leave his master-the only person who gave him life and purpose. The power that was born through his voice was the only important thing, and his body could fail as long as his voice brought victory. Yet even for him, puppet as he was, he felt his mind tremble at the realization that he was dying this time. His eyes flashed brilliant blue for a moment as a cold dagger of fear lodged beneath his control. Then, they faded to black again. There was no meaning in fear-this body didn't have the right to fear if the master willed his death. The power was all that mattered and he would use it until he burned himself away. Still, the empty streets seemed cold to him even as they burned and the skies grew red and then black as his blood left him. He sang even after his legs stopped holding him up, until the cold crept through his body and took him into a black dream. _

"Shit!" Kaito shuddered his way out of sleep. The same cold dream again. He didn't know why he kept having this morbid dream, but every time he woke up feeling cold and terrified.

"It's not even a good dream to be scared of…no monsters or terrifying things. Everyone else would laugh at me if I told them I dreamed of myself and felt scared," he sighed to himself. Once again, he wished he knew more about his past. He didn't know where he came from originally, or who made him. He also knew he had a human complex, particularly compared to the other people he called his family; weird dreams were probably just another way of telling him he worried about it too much. His body was human….but his mind just wasn't completely. The others didn't worry as much since they were all living creations, body and mind formed by a preplanned project. They at least knew where they were from and took pride in their lives as created musicians, pampered and beloved for their talent.

"Ugh…" he shivered again and suddenly felt nausea sharply twist in his stomach. Another unfortunate side effect of these dreams was that he felt weak and sick afterwards…like he really had been drained of blood. He rolled over in the tangled blue sheets and wished he was brave enough to ask someone else to keep him company. Len and Rin would spend more time teasing him then he cared to stomach…and he just couldn't bring himself to ask Miku (too unmanly) or Meiko (too humiliating). A soft knock on the door interrupted his mental squirming.

"Kaito? Are you alright? I thought I heard you call for something…I'm coming in, so if you aren't decent now's your chance to cover up…." The only other adult man in the house, Gakupo Kamui poked his brilliantly purple head through the doorway. His face grew concerned and he quickly entered the bedroom once he took a look at Kaito sprawled across his bed. "Man, you look terrible. Are you sick?" He ignored Kaito's feeble protest that he was fine and walked to the side of the bed. Catching Kaito by surprise, he leaned down quickly and put his forehead against the blue-haired man's. "Hmmm…that's surprising. You actually feel pretty cold..".

Kaito gave up on fooling the only other man in the house. Better him than anyone else around at least, and Gakupo was his best friend and then some. He smiled weakly though he had started shivering.

"No…it really is fine. I've been getting this way almost every night for the last week. I just keep having the same dream, and every time I do I wake up feeling like this…at first it wasn't that bad. I mean, I should have gotten used to it, right? But it keeps getting worse. I just don't want to worry anyone or get laughed at over a dream", he sighed as he put his hand over his eyes. He jumped slightly as Gakupo gently put a hand on his hair and smoothed the damp blue strands away from his face. Really, what was wrong with him? He felt stupid for wishing Gakupo would just stay with him the rest of the night so he could sleep without feeling so terrified after the dream. As if reading his mind, the other man yawned loudly and mock-stretched.

"I can't very well leave a sick person to sleep alone. Especially if you have been feeling worse each time this happens. We all need you to keep the rest of us happy with that goofy face…and we need that golden voice of yours for recordings this week too. Can I sleep in here tonight?"

Kaito nodded and tried to hide his face in his pillow. Right now he didn't even want to think about his voice after remembering the way the dream-Kaito used his. The drained feeling wasn't going away, and keeping his eyes open was starting to make him feel worse. He groaned and rolled over to hide how pathetic he looked (and felt) in front of what he normally thought of as one of his best friends.

Gakupo started to worry a little as Kaito's chills got worse instead of better-normally waking up from a nightmare made the feelings associated with it go away, didn't it? Instead the handsome blue-haired man he normally associated with any kind of public exposure if it involved singing, dancing, and making a general spectacle out of himself resembled nothing so much as shivering lump under a blanket. If he hadn't been worried, he would have found it cute. In the dim light from the streetlamps shining from the window, Kaito looked very young and vulnerable.

"G-gakupo-san? It's really cold…can you bring me another blanket? Maybe that will help.." Kaito stuttered. Urgh….Gakupo's carefully cultivated self-control that he used to maintain his cool, suave, mature image crumbled as he made an impulsive decision.

"Just hold on a minute-I promise you'll feel better soon". Kaito opened his eyes in surprise as Gakupo carefully peeled the tangled sheets off of him and then wrapped a blue comforter around his body. He got another shock as the other man gently scooted next to him and pressed his body (warm!) against Kaito's back. Kaito stiffened for a minute, but as his body finally started to warm from taking someone else's heat he relaxed. His shivering slowed and gradually stopped, but as he warmed up dizziness swept him up and he passed out into an unconscious sleep. Gakupo sighed with relief when Kaito finally started to warm up and seemed to fall into normal sleep. Hopefully things would go back to normal tomorrow, but he somehow doubted it. Although no one else had noticed yet, Kaito's nightmares were getting increasingly worse and were bound to wake someone else up at some point soon. He had heard Kaito crying out the past few nights himself, which had finally dragged him into his friend's room and now into his bed. He didn't want the rest of the family to worry either-especially when none of them knew what was wrong. He was at least happy about finally making in into Kaito's bed, but he wished he could dispel the heavy feeling that things were going to happen. Times like these where he inevitably wound up feeling helpless only strengthened his feelings towards the man that was currently sleeping deeply within his reach. Kaito should really appreciate how much self-control it took to stay in the same bed and not indulge himself further, he thought wryly to himself. With wistful thoughts in mind, he wrapped his arms around Kaito a little more comfortably and slowly drifted off himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**This story picks up in the next chapter-but I want to let poor Kaito have a good day once in a while too-since it seems like things are getting a little dark for him.**

**I don't own vocaloid or the characters!**

"Recording day today! Wake up, wake up, wake up Ba-Gakupo and BaKaito!" yodeled a strident voice in their faces. Gakupo's first instinct was to punch something that startled him that badly, but as his eyes shot open he managed to restrain himself and hit the wall next to Rin's golden head instead. Kaito's eyes flew open and he promptly caught himself in the sheets and half fell off the bed as he tried to escape the sudden rude intrusion of loud noise. Rin smirked and pointedly looked at both men, half-naked and sharing the same bed, before twirling and leaping out of the room to give Meiko and Miku high-fives.

"That was great…did you get a picture, Len?" Len gave a thumbs-up from the door as he looked through a camera lens at Gakupo's hand embedded in the wall next to the bed and Kaito upside down in his underwear and hanging off the bed. A stampede ensued to the kitchen as the others now felt secure the last two members of the family were up-they wanted to get breakfast before Kaito's legendary appetite made its appearance. The embarrassing pictures were a normal morning occurrence in the household, so Gakupo just shook his head as he pulled his fist from the wall and shook paint flakes off of his fingers. Kaito groaned and ungracefully completed his fall from the bed to flop bonelessly on the floor.

"Feeling better today?" Gakupo asked with a slightly concerned expression softening his usual handsome mask.

"Ehh…I guess I'm just tired today from not enough sleep. I should be fine after breakfast and ice cream…really. Either way, we all have recordings today; and I have three songs and a few dances today to complete before the concert tour planning starts. I can't afford to stay in bed today."

Gakupo shook his head; that was going to be a punishing day no matter how much Kaito loved performing. Then again, maybe a good day's work would make him sleep soundly without the nightmare and increasing weakness. The other man looked uncharacteristically serious.

"I actually just had a feeling it would be better to finish a few projects in one go. If I am coming down with something, I might not be able to perform properly later. It would be just my luck to lose my voice, knowing me. My songs for today need to be recorded and then edited by the end of the week for the concert CD release-so I just figured I'd do it in one go."

For some reason, the purple-haired man felt a twinge of unease over Kaito's work schedule, but decided to chalk it up to overprotectiveness (and regret they couldn't stay in bed together for longer) on his part. Although Kaito still looked a little drained today, he seemed back to his normal cheerful and slightly goofy self. Gakupo didn't notice the dark shadow that briefly darkened Kaito's normally cobalt blue eyes. Kaito shook his head to clear it of a lingering moment of dizziness (the room suddenly seemed darker) and then stood up and stretched. He looked at Gakupo for a minute, still sitting on the bed. His hand was scraped from the earlier wall punch, though it had gone unnoticed by the purple-haired man. On a mischievous thought, he picked up the other man's hand and then bowed over it. The other man jerked at the shock of Kaito grabbing his hand. Then he smirked and then kissed the back of it. As he drew back, he licked a drop of blood off of his lip from Gakupo's scratched hand.

"Thanks for keeping me warm last night. Let's work hard today together, alright?" He threw in one of his favorite sexy poses and a wink and directed it at the now-speechless samurai, and then gave his normal cheerful (slightly goofy) grin and slowly sauntered out the door towards breakfast. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the sound of his feet pounding madly down the stairs as soon as he left the room and the indignant howls as he began inhaling food off the table and from those unlucky enough not to have wolfed down their own breakfasts. A piercing shriek and a crash that reverberated through the walls indicated that the morning drama was concluded. Gakupo tried to will his face back into its normal calm expression before walking downstairs to look at the damage. Kaito could be a little too innocent of how sexy he was to people when he played pranks like that. Luckily his view of the kitchen cleared his mind of uncomfortable feelings and brought back his sense of normalcy-the piercing shriek from earlier had been Kaito. The blue-haired man was now sprawled on his face on the kitchen floor with leeks protruding from both ears. Gakupo rolled him over with his boot to discover Miku had also managed to fit one entirely up his nose as well before Meiko had apparently knocked him out with the empty sake bottle lying on the floor close by. He removed the leek that could potentially block Kaito's breathing and then wandered back to the kitchen table to fill up on a leisurely breakfast. He had a feeling it was going to be a strange day, and he would probably need as much energy as he could get before the end of it.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later saw the whole household getting ready to go to the Krypton recording studios and sound stages. Miku and Rin were excited because they would get to see Len wearing a dress and make-up for his song with Kaito and Gakupo, and were trying to force skirt outfits on him before they left the house. Gakupo decided to forego his distinctive samurai outfit for more practical dark-washed jeans and a long white button-up shirt. Kaito just wore his normal brown trousers but kept a normal t-shirt on top instead of his trademark overcoat. The casual clothes looked surprisingly good on him too, even topped with his ever-present scarf. The effect was somewhat ruined as he started performing sexy poses and blowing kisses in front of the living room's large mirror on the way out the door. Definitely back to normal.

"Let's make some music!" They all did the family's traditional fist-pump in the air before piling into their silver minivan and heading for the studio.

"Geez…Kaito's got a ton of stuff to record and do today. He's usually not that busy…maybe his luck is finally changing, " Meiko smiled at Gakupo as she looked over their individual schedules. "He's going to have to decide if he wants to do the dance choreography first or the songs first, since he's got both. Kaito, which do you want to do first?"

"I'll dance! I love making a spectacle of myself. Plus one of the dances is with the twins, and the other is with Miku, so it'd be better to get them done before it gets late." Kaito looked fondly at the younger vocaloids as they henpecked Len in the rear seats. A quick bolt of pain made him close his eyes briefly and shake his head to clear it. There wasn't any point in making anyone worry over some stress-related issues that would clear up once he got a good night's sleep. He took a deep breath and forced his thoughts back to today's work-the dances especially seemed like they would be fun to choreograph and perform, and it was the sort of performing he didn't get to do as often as he'd like. Surprisingly enough considering how clumsy he was at home and in public, he was a talented dancer and more often than not put together the dance routines for the family's individual and group performances. Today's dances were split evenly between a fun promo show for the twins, and a group performance that the whole family would do for an upcoming stage concert. The rest of the day would be in songs, but he finally had a few duets. Two of the songs involved Gakupo as well, which made him feel a little excited and nervous at the same time. Gakupo was mature enough to have decided what his own feelings were towards the blue-haired singer, but he still hadn't noticed that Kaito's posturing and teasing were hiding his own less-organized feelings towards the other man. Maybe singing together would give the blue-haired man a chance to clarify those a little and to move a little forward with the person that was starting to gain a firm hold on his heart. Head and heart feeling somewhat out of order, Kaito leaned back against the cold glass of the window and watched the city passing by under a mist of rain.

Once they reached the studio, they entered from a rear door and made their way to the set of recording stages and booths reserved for them. Sometimes being part of a large 'family', all of whom were famous musicians, had advantages. Kaito's headache improved once he found himself breathing in the familiar smells of polished wood, chrome, and the oddly acrid odor associated with recording equipment. It felt like home and he finally felt like he could relax and just perform. Maybe his uneasiness and weakness really were just in his head-he'd really laugh at himself for pulling extra work like this if that turned out to be the case. He didn't get much of a chance to think on it as the twins promptly grabbed his arms and started towing him towards a sound stage.

"We get him first! He promised to teach us a dance for the Dream Fighter song we are covering live in a few weeks! You guys can just watch the fun from out here while you watch Kaito-nii sing and dance along to a girly song." Rin gave the others an evil smirk from under Kaito's arm before pushing him and Len into the room and shutting the door firmly. The others just looked at each other and shrugged. No one else had as much to do today, at least until a little later, so they wound up sitting in lounge seats outside the viewing window. Rin was nice enough to connect the speaker to the outside so they could at least hear Kaito singing along.

Meiko and Miku were used to Kaito making up dances for their own routines, so watching him perform normally female moves didn't faze them much. It was Gakupo's first time watching one of Kaito's choreography sessions, and the fact that it was targeted for female dancers just made him more interested. To his credit, Kaito really was an excellent dancer and the others could follow him easily. Although the lyrics (and quite a few of the moves) made the other man snicker, he couldn't help but admire how well the three of them made the dance look-watching the faces Kaito made as he sang along while dancing made the whole scene look…well, cute. Len and Rin were really enjoying following his moves and instructions, making this session seem more like a karaoke party than work. And of course, watching the man he liked doing shimmies and hip rolls was a bonus.

"I need to do this more often even when I don't have to," thought Kaito. Dancing felt so good, and although he'd tire eventually, it normally gave him more energy at the start. "Glad I decided to do the dances first, though. Today really will be tiring if everyone else makes me work this hard," he thought even as he smiled while ending the routine. He noticed the others watching from the window and struck another pose with the twins before calling the end of the session.


	4. Chapter 4

**The story is going to get darker fast from here-what is really going on with Kaito and the dreams he has been having?**

**Don't own vocaloid or characters.**

In a building not far from the Krypton recording studios, a single computer monitor glowed to life and dimly lit a dusty cement-block room. Words rolled out onto the screen and blinked in a pre-set alarm sequence.

-_Tracking alert activated. Target located in tracking range. Tracking alert activated. Target located in tracking range-_

"Looks we finally tracked him down," the person at the monitor called to another figure sitting in the shadows of the room. Cigarette smoke plumed through the dim light, and the blinking light gleamed and reflected off of a pair of glasses in the dark. A sharp intake of breath followed the figure as she walked over to the monitor screen. She looked at the blinking words and then at the tracking dot that displayed the location. It was less than five blocks away. She threw back her head and laughed, until tears formed in her eyes.

"Finally! This close all this time…and he has no idea at all. I'll bet he's been having some interesting dreams lately though, the closer we come to him." A distinctly unfriendly smile stretched her face into a predatory look of anticipation. "We really should go introduce ourselves to the rest of his family that seems to have picked him p since we last saw him. I'm sure they don't realize he already has a 'family' he belonged to before them. It seems unfair, doesn't it? His Master should be the only one he truly belongs to, after all." She narrowed her dark eyes thoughtfully before turning to her assistant.

"Should we see first if he still has his powers or not? It might be interesting to see what these other so-called creations think when they find out what they have living with them. _Kaito_ will either prove too destructive to live among these…vocaloids…and normal people, or he could start to break down if his new emotions inhibit the response to orders from the Pulse. Either way, I think they will have to turn to someone to help him or even remove him for their own safety….I think we can serve in either capacity, eh?" She chuckled darkly, finally feeling a thrill of anticipation as her creation finally walked back into her grasp.

"He should still have the original barriers we placed in his brain that suppress or release his ability to utilize his power. We can use the Pulse to break them down and see what fun begins. Should we place bets?" Her assistant simply smiled.

"Judging by what we can tell now from the personality he shows, it seems more likely he will use up his power until he starts to break down-he probably won't even realize it until it's time for someone to come in and 'save him'. We can set the Pulse on low so that he doesn't receive any direct orders, but is still using his powers without knowing it. He was designed to destroy with his voice originally, so just the act of singing would release power through his voice. On this low setting, it would wear him down and might have interesting effects on his listeners, depending on what the song is about."

Another glint of dark amusement.

"I hope our dear _Kaito _isn't into singing about dark subjects. Heartbreak and suicide are always popular topics for love songs, aren't they? This way is a little less…direct…. than the way he used to work, but I think getting him back this way should be amusing in its own right. It is less likely to bring attention directly to us until we already have that power well in hand and retrained, which will be useful. Today will be a busy day for us." She drew herself up and walked towards a heavy steel door in one of the grey walls. "Let's get the Pulse running."


	5. Chapter 5

The day was growing thin as the family worked on wrapping up recordings. Although Gakupo wasn't included in the last dance, it still had everyone else in it. Kaito loved the feeling of other people following his moves-especially when everyone hit the correct steps perfectly and their bodies flowed in unison through the dance. It looked perfect, and he thought it was worth the pain his muscles would be in tomorrow after this punishing day.

"Yosh! One song with Gakupo and Rin, and then two more solos and I can call it a week", he told himself as the others moved out of the dance studio in front of him. He had to clean up and change for the songs, since these would be recordings and if they turned out well, could be used in a video shoot later. Lazy by nature, if it saved him future work he would put up with dressing up a little now. He noticed Gakupo waiting by the studio door for him as the others went through, though he distributed high-fives equally to all. Gakupo smiled more gently at him than at the others (at least he hoped to himself), and instead of high-fiving him, slung an arm around Kaito's shoulders and gave a quick hug.

"It's surprisingly fun to watch you dance for most of the day. I was worried I'd get bored since I didn't have much today….", and he smiled wickedly for a minute…"but you are really quite good at shimmies and hip rolls. I think the girls learned a few tricks from you."

Kaito flushed a painful shade of red as he imagined the other man watching him shake his ass during the other dances. _Great, now I'll be self-conscious that I'm being watched when I use the home studio. At least he seemed to like the dancing though. Shit! Why do I care if he likes how I dance? _He lowered his face so Gakupo couldn't see his expression while thoughts ran through his head.

"Oh! I'm singing with you next! No wonder you were waiting for me….", he smacked himself in the face as he realized. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that it wasn't just for him, but he was still excited that they finally would perform in the same studio. "Hmm…then both of us need to change quickly so the younger ones can head home with Meiko." He threw his hands up suddenly, laughing. "Gaah! I'm getting nervous now that you are going to be standing with me though. With your caliber, that's a lot of pressure."

Gakupo chuckled and kept his arm slung loosely around Kaito's shoulders as they walked to the men's communal dressing area (they did have their own dressing rooms too, but when they did songs together it was convenient to fix each other's costumes before coming out on stage). "What are you worried about? You aren't competing with me on this one…I'm doing a background vocal. What is the song called again?"

"Ah! It's the Girl from Byakkoya-it's a cover of an existing song but it really is a gorgeous song. I feel kind of sorry it's not a duet…." And Kaito blushed again realizing he was implying he wanted to sing side by side with Gakupo. For people or creations who lived by song, it was a form of intimacy and familiarity. "A-anyways..we should hurry. Rin is already waiting for us. I really don't want to get beaten twice in the same day."

Rin was already stamping in place in her costume and scowling cutely at them as the two men made it into the dressing area. She also had a bat close to her hand, a fact that made her seem slightly less cute.

**Close by..**

In a windowless room in the dark building, machinery suddenly whirred and hummed to life as the Master's assistant thumbed switches hidden against the steel door. In the center of the room, a column rose from the floor to press against the ceiling. It looked like a clear crystal tube, but as the bank of machinery started up, it began to glow an ominous shade of black-blue and strings of energy began to crackle through it like miniature but powerful lightning bolts.

"Make sure to put this on a low setting for now. We want to release the barriers with minimal destruction to the subject and surrounding area. Since we know he is recording songs right now, the initial power flow when it awakens should be released through the songs themselves." She sighed, although it was a contented sound. The sound of someone pleased with a good day's work. "Ideally, he won't know even have any idea of what is happening until it is too late. The symptoms of early break-down or over-use of power mimic illness, and unless he sings a purely destructive or dark song, it shouldn't have any truly strong impacts on normal people or structures. And since his 'illness' won't improve unless they take him to someone _special _who can help, he will be forced back into my hands whether he remembers who his master is or not.


End file.
